Last Frost Dates Canada 2026 — All 36 Cities
From Victoria's March 10 to Sudbury's May 31 — last frost dates for 36 major Canadian cities, organized by province, with links to full planting calendars.
Major city last frost dates 2026
Historical averages based on Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals (1991–2020). Individual years vary by ±2–4 weeks.
🔔 Want a heads-up before frost hits? Get a free frost alert for your city — one email when frost is forecast in the next few nights, so you can cover your plants in time.
Want the cities ranked by how long their season actually lasts? See Growing Season Length in Canada — 36 cities ranked by frost-free days, from Victoria's ~280 days to Sudbury's ~108.
Planning the fall side of the season? See First Frost Dates Canada — 24 cities by province, from Saskatoon's September 12 to Victoria's mid-December, with harvest deadlines and fall planting windows.
📊 Writers, researchers, and garden clubs: all of these dates are available as a citable frost-dates dataset — one sortable table for 38 cities, with a free CSV download and an embeddable widget.
Last Frost Dates by Province — Full Table
British Columbia
| City | Last Frost 2026 | Zone | Season | Full Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | March 10 | 8b | ~280 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Vancouver | March 15 | 8b | ~260 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Burnaby | March 15 | 8a | ~245 days | Planting calendar → |
| Surrey | March 15 | 8a | ~245 days | Planting calendar → |
| Nanaimo | March 20 | 8b | ~240 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Chilliwack | April 7 | 8a | ~214 days | Planting calendar → |
| Abbotsford | April 11 | 8a | ~204 days | Planting calendar → |
| Kamloops | May 4 | 6b | ~158 days | Planting calendar → |
| Kelowna | May 5 | 6b | ~163 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
Alberta
| City | Last Frost 2026 | Zone | Season | Full Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lethbridge | May 14 | 5a/5b | ~135 days | Planting calendar → |
| Calgary | May 23 | 3b | ~120 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Edmonton | May 14 | 4a | ~132 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Red Deer | May 19 | 4b | ~117 days | Planting calendar → |
Saskatchewan & Manitoba
| City | Last Frost 2026 | Zone | Season | Full Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regina | May 21 | 3b | ~119 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Saskatoon | May 25 | 3b | ~110 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Winnipeg | May 25 | 3a | ~118 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
Ontario
| City | Last Frost 2026 | Zone | Season | Full Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor | April 20 | 7a | ~190 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| St. Catharines | April 15 | 6b/7a | ~196 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Toronto | April 20 | 6b | ~197 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Mississauga | April 20 | 6b | ~190 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Brampton | April 25 | 6a/6b | ~179 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Hamilton | April 25 | 6b/7a | ~186 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| London | April 22 | 6a | ~178 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Kitchener | May 1 | 6a | ~170 days | Planting calendar → |
| Oshawa | April 29 | 6a | ~169 days | Planting calendar → |
| Guelph | May 7 | 5b | ~150 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Ottawa | May 9 | 5a | ~145 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Barrie | May 21 | 5a | ~125 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Sudbury | May 31 | 4b | ~108 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
Québec
| City | Last Frost 2026 | Zone | Season | Full Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laval | April 28 | 6a | ~165 days | Planting calendar → |
| Montréal | May 9 | 5b | ~150 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Québec City | May 17 | 4b | ~133 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
Atlantic Canada
| City | Last Frost 2026 | Zone | Season | Full Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | May 10 | 6a | ~161 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Charlottetown | May 10 | 6a | ~157 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Fredericton | May 17 | 5b | ~131 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Moncton | May 15 | 5b | ~136 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| Saint John NB | May 8 | 6a | ~153 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
| St. John's | May 24 | 5 (oceanic) | ~142 days | Frost details → · Planting calendar → |
Last Frost Date by Hardiness Zone
If you know your Canadian hardiness zone, the dedicated zone canonicals below pool every major city in that zone into one reference — useful when comparing your microclimate to others on the same zone band, or when shopping for variety recommendations sold by zone.
Last Frost Date by Province
For provinces where the within-province frost variation is larger than the average between Canadian cities — Atlantic Canada and the Prairies especially — the province canonicals pool every major city into a single comparison.
GTA Satellite Cities
GTA suburbs and satellite cities with their own neighbourhood-level frost canonicals — lakeshore vs inland, Oak Ridges Moraine elevation, and York/Durham/Halton/Peel Region breakdowns.
How to Use Your Last Frost Date
The last frost date is the 50th percentile historical average — meaning about half of years see the last frost before that date, and half after. For frost-sensitive crops like tomatoes and peppers, always add a 1–2 week buffer beyond the average date before transplanting outdoors.
Starting seeds indoors
Count back from last frost: tomatoes 6–8 weeks, peppers 8–10 weeks, eggplant 8–10 weeks, onions 10–12 weeks. Use the seed starting calculator for your exact city.
Transplanting outdoors
Tomatoes and peppers: 1–2 weeks after last frost. Cucumbers and squash: 1–2 weeks after last frost when soil is warm. Hardy crops (kale, broccoli, lettuce): 2–4 weeks before last frost.
Direct sowing outdoors
Beans, corn, squash, cucumbers: at or just after last frost when soil reaches 15°C. Peas, spinach, carrots, beets: 4–6 weeks before last frost as soon as soil is workable.
A lightweight floating row cover you drape over seedlings and beds when a late frost threatens — it buys several degrees of protection on cold nights and extends your growing season at both ends.
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Common Questions
Are these frost dates the same every year?
The dates shown are historical averages based on Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals (1991–2020). The actual last frost in any given year can be 2–4 weeks earlier or later than the average. The "2026" in the page title reflects the current season — the underlying climate normal dates are used annually and updated every decade as climate data accumulates. A warm spring can bring the last frost 2–3 weeks early; a cold late spring can push it 2–3 weeks late.
My city isn't on this list — how do I find my frost date?
Use the frost date calculator — it covers hundreds of Canadian cities and communities beyond the 36 major cities listed here. Alternatively, find the nearest listed city in a similar hardiness zone and use a ±1 week adjustment based on your latitude and proximity to large bodies of water (lakes and oceans moderate temperatures and shift frost dates).
What is a hardiness zone and how does it relate to frost dates?
Plant hardiness zones (the Canadian system uses Zones 0–8) are based on average annual minimum winter temperatures — the coldest it gets in a typical winter. Frost dates (last spring frost, first fall frost) are based on the dates of 0°C temperatures in spring and fall. They're related but distinct: Victoria (Zone 8b) has both a mild winter and an early last frost. Ottawa (Zone 5a) has cold winters and a late last frost. Prairie cities often have colder zones than their frost dates suggest because of extremely cold winters (-30°C to -40°C) despite relatively moderate spring and fall temperatures.
Get Your Full Planting Calendar
The frost calculator generates a complete planting schedule for your city — indoor start dates, transplant dates, and direct sow windows for 30+ vegetables.